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Thursday, 13 March 2014

How to Reach Kid Lit Readers: Hone in on Power & Control by Angela Ackerman #ChaBooCha

Most kids know one thing: structure.
There’s school to attend, homework to do, music lessons and sports practices,
mealtimes, bedtimes and a host of other things. Parents place limits on their
sugar intake, TV watching, social play and assign chores. Teachers shape their
school hours and friends have their own set of expectations. With so many
people laying down rules, it’s no wonder the desire to experience power or
control is so strong in kids. So using these themes is a great way to draw
readers into our books and keep them interested.

Above all else, we want young readers to
identify with the hero of the story. This means creating a character who is
both extraordinary yet just like them. These two things seem like they pull in
different directions, but that isn’t the case at all. Delivering a protagonist
who faces the same life challenges as the reader while gaining power or control
is best done in one of two ways:

The Ordinary
Kid Who Becomes Extraordinary

Ordinary kid heroes are mirrors for
readers. They have rules to live by, friendship and school issues, goals,
desires and dreams. They have quirks and talents and skills, but they also make
mistakes, fail and need help from time to time. Kids relate to this type of
protagonist, because the hero faces the same day-to-day struggles and
challenges they themselves do.

This “everyday” hero becomes something more
through a twist in the plot. Often something extraordinary happens (aliens
crash land in his backyard, or zombie rats escape a nearby mad scientist’s lab)
and the hero is the one to step up and save the day. Or an opportunity arises for the hero to
shine (a school wide baking contest, or finally making the baseball team
because another player is injured.) To make these scenarios feel realistic, the
key to becoming extraordinary should be rooted in a talent or skill that seems
ordinary, or a personality trait that the hero believes is more a hindrance,
than a help. Maybe the character loves baking
cupcakes even though he’s a boy and gets teased for it, or the heroine wants to
play baseball more than anything else, but believes her tendency to think
everything through is what makes her a bad player.

When the author twists the character’s
thinking about themselves so that they see they are special just by embracing
their own ordinary skills, talents and passions, readers cheer because deep
down, they want to believe they are just as capable of being extraordinary too.

The
Extraordinary Kid Who Becomes Ordinary

There’s something exciting about a hero or
heroine that is amazing right from page one. Maybe they are the town’s
kid-sized superhero, saving the world each and every day. Or, they’re a child
movie star or the most popular kid in school and a terror on the basketball
court. These type of heroes are what kids want to be themselves, because they
have power and control right off the bat.

But, being all-powerful and perfect will
not sustain readers for the scope of the book. Eventually the rush of living
their life will wear off and readers will start to view the character as
unrealistic because while they admire this type of character, they can’t relate
to them. So this is where introducing
“ordinary” into the Extraordinary Hero must come in. As I mentioned before, a child’s real world
is all about structure, and there are limits on what they can do and say.
Showing a fantastic hero struggle with “real life” brings the protagonist into
a young reader’s own experience. Having
the protagonist struggle with friends, need to obey rules, or simply making
them bad at something (like being skilled at archery yet always tripping
because he can’t tie his shoelaces properly, or saving the world by day yet
having to wash supper dishes like any other kid at night, etc.) helps readers
feel like they can identify with the hero, because in some ways, he’s just like
them.YOUR
TURN: Does your character gain power and control in
some way? Do they have a skill that
makes them special, or a personality trait that acts as a “hidden talent”? Let
me know in the comments how you’re making sure your readers will identify with
your character by making him ordinary and extraordinary and fulfilling the
desire for power and control.TIP:
Need to brainstorm a special talent or
skill? Try our new Talents
& Skill Thesaurus entries. Or if you need to find the perfect
personality trait, there’s the Character
Trait Thesaurus sample entries.

*****

Angela Ackerman is the author of
the bestselling writing guide, The
Emotion Thesaurus, and most recently, The Positive
Trait and Negative
Trait Thesaurus books. Centering on the light and dark side of
a character's personality, these new resource books help writers create
layered, compelling characters that readers relate to and care for. Visit
Angela's website, Writers Helping
Writers for friendly support, description help, free writing tools and
more!

Angela, great post. In fact, I have recently written and published my debut kidlit book last year based on an Indian festival, Diwali surrounding the story of 3 kids and their friendship. I was wondering for kidlit authors, how can we reach young readers??Any tips to offer?

Angela, great post. In fact, I have recently written and published my debut kidlit book last year based on an Indian festival, Diwali surrounding the story of 3 kids and their friendship. I was wondering for kidlit authors, how can we reach young readers??Any tips to offer?

Ange and Becca are the absolute best pals writer can have. I'm ALWAYS over at their blog. The Talents and Skills Thesaurus is really good. Their entire blog is a writers best friend. I recommend every writer hightail it over there asap!

Don't enter me in the drawing. I have them all and they NEVER leave my writing side. Great post Becky!

To answer your questions, I hope my main character fills a void. I am trying to imbue her with passions I see in girls around me which aren't acknowledged in the current market. As for being empowered? I'll have to think on it some more. I suppose at this point, she's feeling helpless. Circumstances are driving her forward, which is like the reader's experience. She tries to take control, but in the end it's a story about dealing with the circumstances rather than changing them. When this first draft is written, I'll use the above to analyze the connection with the reader more closely. Thanks for the inspiration / information.

I think feeling uncertain or even overwhelmed is something kids can bend their heads around. They feel powerless in many ways and rely heavily on the support systems of parents, school, friendships, etc. Having things shift so that they must draw from their own inner strength is something readers will admire about them and cause them to root for the character. :)

Either way, a book has to have elements of the reader's own reality (their concerns, worries, challenges, etc.) and also something more (the ability to be great in some way, to do something amazing, to feel like a hero, etc.). This is the magic!

Thank you sharing your tips on giving your MC power and control… making them extraordinary in some way. Personally, I like the twist of making ones extraordinary MC become ordinary. In a way it’s sort of a step down, but kids will identify more with someone who seems to have it all, but is really just like them

I love cartoons that show the character as somehow amazing--either brilliant scientist, or a superhero, etc, but he still has an annoying sister to babysit, or a nagging mom making him clean out the garage, or he has to complete a school project in a subject he hates or is no good at...it makes them so much more real. :)

My character had an extraordinary talent and this comes under focus but so far I've emphasised the differences between him and other children. Going to think about how I can ground this little guy in the real world. Great post! I teach writing workshops for kids so really inteested in checking out your books.

Grounding is the perfect word for this, as it's what makes them relatable to the reader. There's always something a writer can use--some aspect of real life that comes into play for the protagonist that makes them just like anyone else. :) Good luck!

It can be a certain skill or talent, or a belief in something, or a personality trait, just to toss out a few ideas. Think about the stories you see on the news or internet, like the kid who was so upset by his school taking away hot lunches from the kids who were behind in paying for them that he raised 11,000 to pay off the debts. What made him unique? Compassion? A strong moral belief in right or wrong? Determination? All of the above? The beautiful thing is you get to decide. :)

It is fun to write isn't it? We get to put a piece of ourselves into each character, so whatever they go on to do and experience, in some way, we are as well. That's what I love about writing--living so many different lives. :)

Hmmm, I think blogger ate my comment. Flaws are good--we all have them and kids relate. Maybe your hero's special talent is a secret strength--something he believes is a flaw, but it's actually the key positive attribute that will help him succeed. :)

As a kid I always wanted to be extraordinary and break free of the world around me and thus hid in Narnia and the enchanted wood and other book worlds. As an adult I grind my teeth every time yet another kid saves the world in popular fiction and the adult mentors play a bit part in the background or conveniently get killed. As a kid I desperately wanted adults to be the responsible ones and make it all safe so am I alone in this thinking or are we always going to have child heroes?

I think kids want o feel empowered, but this doesn't mean that parents can't have a role in books. There are too many orphan stories that are plot devices: the kids must X, so parents are killed so the hero can achieve their goal without interference.

To me it doesn't have to be either/or, just a situation where the main character must make independent decisions that have consequences, and then he or she must accept responsibility for their actions. Parents can still be involved, can still guide or help a bit but it must be the hero solving his problems a the end of the day. :)

I hear you, Cecelia. I struggle with this in picture books too, especially when I am told that I should have no adults at all in them. I think, poor kids, must they solve their own problems all the time? They must feel scared.

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